Syria kicks off 1st multi-candidate presidential election

An election worker carries a balloting box at a polling station in Damascus, Syria, June 3, 2014. Syria on Tuesday kicks off its presidential election, in which eligible voters will cast their ballots for the country's three presidential candidates, including incumbent President Bashar al-Assad. (Xinhua/Bassem Tellawi)

DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Syria on Tuesday kicks off its presidential election, in which eligible voters will cast their ballots for the country's three presidential candidates, including incumbent President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's Interior Ministry said that more than 15 million registered voters will cast their ballots at 9,610 polling stations across Syria, where the government has reportedly set up ballot boxes in shelters to allow thousands of displaced Syrian to participate in the voting.

The vote is taking place despite the rejection of the opposition and their Western backers, which dismissed the election as a "farce."

LATAKIA, Syria, May 28 (Xinhua) -- In President Bashar al-Assad 's ancestral heartland, Latakia, people say they want to vote for the one who can ensure them a safe life and lead the country out of the devastating three-year-old crisis, deeming Assad as the " strong man" who can save them.

"This country needs a strong man like Assad. He has been ruling the country for a while and the country has developed because of him and God willing, Assad is our choice," Siham, a university student in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia told Xinhua, ahead of the June 3 presidential vote. Full Story

BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Foreign Ministry has said of upcoming discussions of a draft resolution to the Syria crisis that actions taken by the UN Security Council should be conducive to a political solution.

Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks when responding to a question on the resolution which, as reported, would authorize delivery of humanitarian aid into Syria without approval from the Syria government. Full Story